Only This
by madisonlilly
Summary: Takes place during and after X2. Ashlyn OC returns to the mansion and helps rebuild after events of X2 but unexpected trouble eventually lead the XMen and XStudents to the relative safety of Hogwarts.
1. Ashlyn

AN: Eventually this is going to be a Harry Potter crossover but for right now its just background on my OC and the X-Men leading up to the Harry Potter part. I will warn you that I have never read the comic but am including a few characters from the comics who do not show up in the movies so I'm sorry if they aren't 'in character.' Please review, I'm trying to get it written a lot in advance but its kind of hard, reviews keep me motivated.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, the X-Men or Harry Potter and his friends whenever they show up, just Ashlyn.

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Only This - Ashlyn

"There's only us, there's only this, forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today." RENT

Ashlyn Marlowe could never boast a perfect life. Her father was an abusive drunk and her mother was kept so cowed by him that Ashlyn grew to resent her. She never stood up for either herself or her daughter, so they both endured the beatings. When Ashlyn was thirteen she came home to find both her parent's dead, blood puddle around both bodies. The police quickly ruled it an obvious murder/suicide and the burials were arranged by the city. There were no relatives and the child would have to go into foster care.

The day of the funeral, Ashlyn slipped away and back to her house where she collected a few belongings and what money she could find and left, never looking back. She already knew that she was different, others hadn't noticed the things that happened when she got mad but she knew. The ground shook, the wind howled and it was all because of her. She was one of _them_ and no family would want her, she was a mutant and she had to hide.

She was on the streets for two months, living scantly off of the money she had taken from home. The day after her fourteenth birthday a man named Joe Walker took her to his house to live. She was a trusting, innocent, and naïve fourteen year old and went with him, believing that he would take care of her. It turned out that he did take care of her and teach her things, he was a master swordsman and martial arts champion and taught her his own skills. But teaching her to fight was not all he did; he had a special liking for young girls and used her in ways that she knew were wrong.

She did not leave until she was seventeen. He finally did something so abase that she left in the middle of an earthquake and dramatic howling winds, she took a sword, a small bag of her clothes, and walked away. Later she couldn't be sure if it was her disgust with what he had done that drove her away or if she had finally come to her senses.

She was not free from him for long before she met up with a couple of particularly nasty mutants triggering intense self loathing. A man who looked more beast than man stood in the middle of the forest path that she was walking along. She knew immediately that he meant no good; she pulled the sword from her pack that was slung across her back and swung it once. He laughed at her, something that didn't sound so much like a laugh as a growl then from the woods beside her she heard a metallic sounding cackle. From the corner of her eyes she saw a blue figure step from the trees, she stepped back to keep them both in her field of vision.

The blue woman approached her gracefully but Ashlyn stopped her holding the sword out in front of her. Before she knew what was happening the woman leaped into the air and landed without a sound behind Ashlyn. The blue woman grabbed her from behind as the wind picked up; she wrapped her scaly fingers around Ashlyn's throat as the man walked up to them.

He swatted the sword out of her hands and grabbed her chin, the blue woman let go of her as the huge, hairy man grabbed her throat and let loose a roar that caused her hair to stand on end and the ground to begin rumbling ominously. She didn't flinch even as he raised her off of the ground and threw her to his left. She rolled down a steep hill bouncing off of rocks and landing with a splash in the shallow water of a pond. She felt the air turn dangerously cold and the wind began howling but she knew this time that it wasn't herself.

She couldn't get up; she was battered form the tumble down the hill, her vision blurred by the bump on her head and the mud that she lay in, her head aching with every move. The man-beast roared again as Ashlyn saw what appeared to be a flash of red. The world around her began to take on a gray tinge as she heard someone stumbling down the hill and lightning began to fork across the sky.

Suddenly the person was there and she was blinking furiously to keep herself conscious. A woman with kind eyes and reddish hair came into her view, "Its ok, you're safe now." She said softly, taking Ashlyn's hand gently.

Ashlyn passed out then, not able to keep her mind in the present any longer. When she awoke she was in a comfortable bed, in a nice warm room, the redhead with the kind eyes was holding her hand. She instinctually tried to sit up when she awoke fully but a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her from rising. "You're safe. You are at Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted. I'm Jean."

Ashlyn lay back not relaxing, still tense, anxious to get somewhere she felt safe. The thought flitted through her mind that she didn't feel safe anywhere anymore. She looked at the woman who had called herself Jean, she looked safe, this room felt safe, but so had Joe Walker. She knew that she would simply leave as soon as she saw the chance, she would not stay somewhere that felt safe only to be used as she had before.

But Ashlyn let the first chance to leave pass her by; she was intrigued when told of the nature of this school, she wanted to find the catch, it seemed too perfect. A school for people just like her, where she wasn't a freak or different. Her second chance came but she had heard about a group of adult mutants that fought against mutants like the ones who had attacked her. It was like a team of superheroes and that was definitely intriguing. She even stayed when Professor Xavier offered to help her leave and find a job.

She had decided that she needed to stay, she needed to learn and she wanted to help. She was still a wanderer and left the grounds many times but never once did she think about not going back. She had finally found a place to call home. When she turned nineteen she became a teacher, she taught fine arts and self defense classes at night. Every night as she tried to get to sleep she wondered at the turn her life had taken. She had good friends that she would do anything for and she was certain they would return the favor.

When she turned 21 she began to get restless, she got a job in a town near the mansion and began saving up money. She needed to wander, to see the world through her own eyes. A year later she had saved enough money and went to the Professor with her proposal. She wanted to travel but she wanted him to know that she wasn't leaving the school; she only wanted to further her education. She persuaded him to send her assignments about the different places she went, and even to pay for all of her room and board. The Professor had always allowed her more leniency than the others due to her age and the fact that he held a soft spot for her as he did for all of his lost children.

She began planning the trip and soon was to be accompanied by Peter, who had become a good friend and a rock hard shoulder to cry on if ever needed. He was about her age but seven feet tall, with some sort of metal exoskeleton that he could form like armor, quite an interesting mutation. He was like a gentle giant and she found that she was happy he would be coming with her; he was like the brother she had always wanted.

They left on their world tour in April, completing assignments for the Professor, sending letters back to the children at school, and exploring everything. After almost a year Peter decided it was time to go back to Professor Xavier's but Ashlyn could not pull herself away from Italy. She had fallen in love with Sorrento, a small town on the Bay of Naples not far from Capri. She was a quick study with the language and got herself a job at a small flower stall; it paid enough for some food and her room and board with the old man that owned the stall. She was happy, she was in a beautiful town, she had people that missed her and that she missed.

After another year she heard about trouble back home, a revival of the Mutant Registration Act, an attack on the president, and a raid on a school covering for mutant terrorists. Angel, her good friend had heard about the trouble and wrote to her, he was not at the school but rather navigating his way through the maze of politics. He asked that she check on the school, find out if everyone was alright, he couldn't leave for fear of the politicians finding out his connection to the school. She immediately headed back to the States, concerned about the outcome of this so called raid and the students and professors from the school, determined to find them in one piece. Her surrogate family was in danger and for the first time in her life she was afraid of being left alone without the support group that she had grown accustomed to and so needed now.


	2. Silence

AN: Ok so here's the second chapter, I have to apologize if there are any timeline inaccuracies. Also this chapter is actually during X2, what's happening back at the mansion kind of thing. Oh and I introduce Remy in this one but like I said before, I haven't read the comics so he is probably a lot different, although I do know he is supposed to be Cajun but I just couldn't write him like that so he's not, sorry.

WARNING: There is still a lot to go before Harry Potter and Hogwarts but stick with it and they will show up when they are needed.

DISCLAIMER: No ownership implied just borrowing them.

Only This – Silence

"Home is where your history begins, home is where they catch you when you fall." Where the Heart is

She arrived in the States a few years older but much wiser and more mature. The wanderlust that had plagued her for so long seemed to be sated and she knew where she wanted to be now. She arrived at the school alone, with one bag and found it abandoned, eerily quite and deserted. She entered through the front door to a ringing silence. She saw the aftermath of the raid that she had heard of, the mansion was chaos. She walked the first floor, leaving her bag in the foyer.

When she passed the door to the kitchen she heard a small noise, a shuffling, she stopped, stock still then turned slowly towards the kitchen. She heard the noise again; she stepped into the kitchen and was met by someone yelling like a banshee and a small explosion to her right. She quickly stepped back into the doorway raising her hands beside her. She didn't see her assailant but she knew that he was hiding behind the island in the middle of the kitchen.

Ashlyn stood in the doorway, waiting for the person in the kitchen to move as he was waiting for her to move. Finally she said with as much force as she could muster, "You might as well come out from behind there; I'm not going to hurt you." She heard a grunt from behind the counter and a dark body popped up sending something in her direction which exploded some two feet in front of her.

"Neat trick, I got one of my own." She said conversationally. She gathered a small ball of fire in her hand a trick she had mastered through her years at the school and flicked it over the top of the counter like a ball of paper.

A high pitched shriek came from behind the counter and the dark figure jumped up batting at his back where flames were dancing merrily. "Stand still." She said as she turned the faucet on and sent a jet of water at him. The fire was out quickly but this left the boy, or was it a man, glaring at her from behind a curtain of dark hair. "Who are you?" She said in her most authoritative tone.

"Rem-" he started cutting himself off, then, "Gambit." He amended.

"Good, I'm Gaia," she said offering the mutant name that she had been going by for two years, "Now what are you doing here at Xavier's?"

His head lifted and she could just make out his hazel eyes through the dirty curtain. "I'm a mutant." He said by way of explanation.

"So am I." She said somewhat taken aback by his response, she saw his apprehension and gentled, "So someone sent you?"

He grunted a positive answer. She nodded and turned to the refrigerator, there were six perfectly spaced holes in the door with a reddish stain that was obviously blood. She raised an eyebrow but continued, opening the door and pulling out the milk. She checked the date and shrugged opening it and drinking from the carton. "Have you eaten?" She asked him.

She saw his nod as she turned and headed to the pantry. As she reached out her hand to open the pantry doors she noticed the trembling, she shook her hand then held it out trying to make it steady. She was trying her best to be calm but her body was tense and would not relent, the shaking continued. She resumed her task and opened the pantry retrieving a bag of animal crackers and chips. She looked at the counter where a congealed puddle of ice cream lay and then to the windows all riddled with bullet holes, she didn't fancy having her back exposed to the windows right now. She moved over to them and sat her treasures on the table while looking out the windows.

She felt his eyes on her, watching her every move carefully. She wondered what he saw. She knew she could be a bit….off-putting; she had collected quite an assortment of tattoos over her years as a rebellious wanderer and through the years of living with Joe. Many of them were visible now, in the halter top and long cotton skirt she wore. Across her lower back was a set of Chinese characters whose meaning she did not know courtesy of Joe, circling from the left side of her neck, across her back then around her belly and on down her left hip, then leg, she bore a black ivy vine ending on her foot, at the nape of her neck, just under her hair line she sported a swirling sun design with four rays, and on the inside of her right wrist there was an ouroboros, or a snake biting its own tail. She also sported a tongue and navel ring, having taken out the majority of her more obvious piercings after choosing to stay in Italy. She had thought of herself as a freak show performer, the tattooed woman in the past, but she was past that cynical part of herself, she had accepted herself and her body as it was.

She turned back towards the table, moving it to the side and sat on the floor, her back to the wall, underneath the window where she could not be seen. She opened the bag of animal crackers and took out a handful, munching quietly. "You wanna sit?" She questioned around a mouthful of crackers.

He glanced out the windows then at the bag of chips before walking over grabbing them and sitting about five feet away from her but still under the bank of windows. He opened them, took a handful, and shoved them in his mouth. He seemed to relax some as he realized she meant no harm and was not angry at his imposition.

"So how long have you been staying here?" She asked casually. He glanced at her warily before she said, "Don't worry I won't be mad, I know, you do what you have to do."

He took a handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth then began speaking around the chips, "About three days."

She nodded and swallowed a bit disgusted by the chips spraying out of his mouth. "You seen anybody around?" She asked trying to sound nonchalant.

He glanced sideways at her and shook his head, "Nope not a soul. You know what happened here?" He questioned.

"Have you searched the whole mansion?" She answered his question with another question.

"Most of it." He sounded questioning.

"Well let's take a look around." She said standing and brushing herself off. She was becoming antsy just sitting around, she didn't really know what had happened or if everyone was dead or alive.

He stood up and shrugged, "Whatever you wanna do."

She headed back out towards the foyer, grabbing her things and going up the stairs to the second floor. She moved silently down the hall, noticing the overturned furniture and the open doors to rooms.

She stopped abruptly causing her companion to run into her, "Sorry." He muttered.

"Where have you been sleeping?" She queried.

He seemed surprised but led her a few doors down towards the end of the hall and a door on the left. It was Cyclops and Jean's room. He pushed the door open and stepped inside allowing her to enter also. The room was clean, not like the other rooms she had seen off of the hall. There was a duffel bag on the dresser but everything else seemed to be in place.

Ashlyn nodded at the room then turned and brushed passed Gambit and into the hall. She strode purposely down the hall heading to the last door. She opened the door and stopped breathing deeply as she saw her room, it looked the same as when she left, nothing had changed.

"Have you been to the basement?" She asked as she heard Gambit come up behind her.

"There's a basement?" He asked, scratching his head.

She nodded again absently as she walked into the room and dropped her stuff on the bed, she then turned towards the wall opposite the bed where there was a chest of drawers. She took a step towards it, she picked up one of the pictures on top of the dresser and looked at the smiling faces, it was her family, the Professor, Jean and Cyclops, Angel, Storm, and Peter. Her eyes clouded for a moment, tears threatening to blind her, she quickly looked up trying to keep the tears from falling, she didn't know where any of them were, they could be in trouble, hurt, or even dead. As she raised her eyes she saw the samurai sword she had stolen from Joe, it hung on the wall above her dresser, reminding her of different times, now she thought it might be time to take it down.

She reached up and grabbed the handle, it felt familiar in her hands, she knew this, she could remember the power she felt when swinging the sword by her side. Slowly, reverently, she pulled the sword from its ebony sheath, the steel gleaming as it caught the light. She nodded again and turned towards the door, Gambit stood there, eyes big as saucers, he took a step back quickly. "You know how to use that thing?"

She allowed a menacing smile to form over her lips and nodded as she said, "Let's go explore."

He quickly stepped out of the doorway and allowed her to pass. She walked down the hall, scanning the corners, alert for any sounds. She came about halfway down the hallway and stopped in front of the oak paneling; it curved outward here but held no handle to signify it as a door. She walked to the wall and pressed a panel so that the curved paneling slid away revealing a stark white elevator.

She stepped inside and looked at Gambit's shocked face, "You coming?"

He shrugged and stepped into the elevator, they began to descend stopping quickly and smoothly. The doors slid open, not onto one of the hallways with the familiar oak paneling but onto a cold metallic hallway with stark light and a door across from them that was circular with a large X through the center.

Ashlyn stepped out of the elevator and cautiously looked around the corners to both ends of the hallway. She stepped out of the elevator's alcove and turned to see Cerebro. The door was opened, she had never seen it opened before, she took a few cautious steps towards it but saw nothing else out of place. She turned the other way and saw Gambit staring into Cerebro curiously. "This way." She said cutting off his questions and turning his attention the other way.

She walked down the hallway, mumbling in Italian, noting that none of the other doors were open, she would have to check them later. She came to the other end of the hall where the suits were kept, noticing that the majority of the suits were gone, she suddenly felt a sense of relief. She was sure that if they had time to put their suits on then they had not been caught off-guard as she had feared, they might still be ok. She continued past the dressing area, through the doorway and into the hangar. It was a huge room that housed the jet and various equipment for keeping the jet in good repair as well as some other equipment whose use she didn't know.

She heard Gambit gasp behind her as she walked into the cavernous space. The space was made even more cavernous by the absence of the X-jet. She sighed, they had gotten out, this had to mean that everyone was ok, they had all escaped.

"What do they keep in here, a spaceship?" Gambit said coming up beside her staring in awe at the huge room.

"A jet actually." A smile spread across her face. "They all got out." She said quietly, relief evident in her voice.

"You mean it's true, this place was a mutant terrorist compound?" He said surprised.

She turned on him, anger blooming on her features, "No the professor protected humans and mutants alike, he would never hurt anyone." She said glaring at him.

He raised his hands in supplication she looked quite threatening with the samurai sword held out to her side, "I didn't mean….. I just….. I'm sorry." He stuttered.

She shook her head and walked past him and down the hall, "Let's just get some food and rest." She said wearily.

They went back to the kitchen and collected some food, then went to Ashlyn's room. Ashlyn kicked off her shoes and sat on the bed, while Gambit sat on the floor with his back against the bathroom door.

They munched comfortably in silence for a while before Gambit said, "My name's really Remy, Remington actually but nobody calls me that." He paused munching. "My parents sent me to college but I left. I lived in New Orleans for a while, then I ran into this guy who told me about this school, he said I should come here, that I would feel at home here. So I came, but there was no one here and I didn't know what to do, so I stayed." He said this all as if he didn't believe it, as if he was in awe of how his life had turned out.

Ashlyn was silent for a while until she finally spoke looking at the bag of chips in her lap, "You would have," she looked down at him on the floor, "You would have felt at home here. It's the only real home I have ever known." She was silent again, gazing at him, until she cocked her head to the side and said lightly, "How long has it been since you had your hair cut or since you shaved, or since you showered for that matter?" She grinned at him.

He frowned but quickly saw that she was teasing him and laughed running his hand through his almost shoulder length hair then over his stubbly face. "Are you saying I stink?" He asked playfully.

"No just that you look like a vagabond or something. Do you always wear that trench coat? Has it ever been washed?" She said lightly. He smiled crookedly at her and she smiled back, it felt good to tease each other, natural, like the world wasn't going crazy. "Go take a shower, the bathroom is behind you, throw your clothes out here and I will wash them then you can shave and I'll cut that hair." She instructed standing and pulling him to his feet.

"Is this just a ploy to get me naked?" He asked winking cheekily at her.

She smacked him on the shoulder as she peeled the dark brown coat off of him. "Shower time kiddo." She said pointing to the bathroom door.

While he showered she took his clothes to the washroom across the hall and started them washing. Then she returned to her room and lay on her bed gazing at the ceiling wondering where the Professor and everyone else might be, perhaps they didn't know that the mansion was safe. But how could she get a message to them?

She heard the shower turn off and hurried over to the washroom extracting the clean clothes from the washer and laying them out on top of both the washer and dryer. She performed a little trick that she had mastered while on her world tour. She used her powers to blast the clothes with a heated wind that managed to dry them much more quickly than a dryer. She could dry clothes in mere seconds as opposed to the half hour a dryer usually took, a deed that had saved her time, money, and terrible fashion dilemmas before.

She carried the clothes into her room just as Remy stepped out of the bathroom in a towel. She handed him the clothes which he took gratefully and stepped back into the bathroom to change. When he came out he wore just the jeans and t-shirt and carried the dark sweater and trench coat. He grinned at her, his face clean shaven and hair brushed but still somewhat stringy.

"Mush better." She said as he threw his extra clothes on the bed. "Now enter my salon," Ashlyn said as she pushed him down into her desk chair, "We will be taking quite a bit of hair off, are you ready?" She said brandishing the samurai sword again.

His eyes grew large as she laid the sword lightly across his shoulder. "Not for that I'm not." He said his voice pitched a bit high.

She laughed as she turned and resheathed the sword and hung it back on the wall. "Don't worry; I think I will go with a smaller tool." She said picking up the scissors from the desk. She began the task, cutting most of his hair off and managing to make a flattering, messy, spiked hair cut with nothing but the scissors and a comb. She stood back after a bit and admired her work, "Perfect, I might have made a good hairstylist." She said as she patted the top of his hair and handed him a mirror.

He looked at his hair and smiled, running his fingers through the short length. "Not bad, how much do I owe you?" He said grinning at her.

"Hmm how about you go away and let me sleep and we'll call it even." She said as she realized both jet lag and the excitement of the day were catching up with her. "You should sleep next door; last time I was here nobody was staying there and its weird to think of you sleeping in Scott and Jean's room."

"Ok I'll grab my stuff and move in there." He nodded and stood up, grabbing his clothes from the bed. "Thanks," he said looking down self-consciously then back up at her, "I'm glad you're here."

"You know what? I'm glad you're here too." She said, he turned to leave and began walking down the hall. "Hey Remy," she called after him, "Lock your door, we still haven't checked the whole place." He nodded at her then waved as he walked backwards down the hall and entered his room.

Ashlyn turned back to her room locking the door behind her. She looked up at the sword on the wall and shrugged, better to be safe than sorry. She unsheathed it and put the sword in bed with her, just in case, there were a lot of places in the mansion to hide, there could be people anywhere. She peeled her clothes off and climbed into bed but sleep came slowly. She couldn't help but think of all the turns this life had taken. She thought over everything that had happened and how it had turned out so well only to be taken from her. She tried to remind herself that they were probably ok but it was hard to convince herself everyone was fine when the mansion was as ghostly silent as it was now.


	3. Pain

AN: Thank you to my few loyal reviewers for giving me a much needed kick in the butt to get started again, so away we go.

PS: As you probably know this was started long before X-Men 3 came out and (whenever they make it to Hogwarts) before Half Blood Prince. So keep that in mind as you read.

DISCLAIMER: No ownership implied just borrowing them.

Only This – Pain

It's not brave if you're not scared. Bounce

The next day dawned bright and sunny, the birds were singing and the sun filtered through Ashlyn's window and across her face, she gave a contented groan as she stretched. When her foot made contact with a hard, cold surface on the other side of the bed she immediately recoiled sitting up and pulling the covers back quickly. There lay the sword that she had put in bed with her last night for protection. She laughed at herself, she could have awakened a bloody mess, or not awaken at all for that matter. She had been too tired and worried last night to think of the consequences of sleeping with a very large, very sharp sword. She left the sword and headed to the bathroom.

A nice long, hot shower later she was dressed and ready for some real food. She paused to knock on Remy's door and said, "Wake up sleepy head, its time for food." She heard him making some noise then the lock slide back and his tousled head poked out of the door.

"Give me a minute." He said gruffly before ducking back into the room and shutting the door.

"I'm headed to the kitchen, come on down when you're ready." She told him.

When he finally appeared in the kitchen she had already cooked some pancakes and was pouring some orange juice. "Buon Giorno, cosa desidera da bere?" She said smiling up as he entered somewhat groggily.

His only reply was a noncommittal grunt as he grabbed a plate of pancakes and went to sit under the bank of windows as they had yesterday. They ate in silence, then Ashlyn stood and began cleaning up after herself. She glanced at Remy sitting under the windows, he wasn't much younger than her, perhaps 19 or 20, but he looked like a lost child sitting under the windows licking his syrupy fingers.

"I think we should check the rest of the mansion today, make sure we really are alone." She said as she washed the dishes.

Fifteen minutes later they found themselves in the basement looking into the expansive sphere that was Cerebro. Ashlyn took one step into the orb but paused as she took in the echoing silence. She turned and looked at Gambit's awed expression, when he noticed her again he breathed quietly, "What is it?"

She walked past him and into the hallway, "I'm not really sure, but I do know that it is extremely dangerous and only Professor Xavier can open it, usually." She mumbled as she searched the rest of the building, reassuring herself and questioning everything, Remy behind her could not understand a word of the Italian she used.

A continued search turned up nothing but more wreckage, windows busted out and tables and chairs overturned. Whoever had carried out this attack had taken whatever injured they had and left hurriedly. A quick check showed that some of the numerous secret passages had been used and old footprints were found at the exits. After searching the garage she knew that a town car and another car were missing, this had to be a good sign. Students had gotten out through the tunnels and professors had managed to take the jet and cars, they were all ok.

By lunch time they had managed to check the whole mansion, tunnels and all. The only surprise in the search had been the amount of blood throughout the mansion. There were spots of it in the hallways and in the foyer a great deal of rusty red stained the polished wood floors. Remy had been fascinated by most of the mansion, asking all kinds of questions while Ashlyn related funny stories about the students.

They ate a quick lunch under the windows and headed off to get cleaning supplies for the deep cleaning that Ashlyn had mandated. They cleaned the kitchen first, sweeping the glass and wood shards, cleaning the congealed ice cream up and even wiping the blood off of the refrigerator. They moved on to cleaning the foyer and hallways, the whole while talking about life and their past.

After cleaning as much as possible they went to the rec room, Ashlyn sat on the sofa while Remy sat on the floor in front of her. He told her about how he had discovered his mutation; she asked him why he always used cards which led directly to a poker challenge. She was laughing at his vehement defense of his card shark abilities when she first felt it, a sharp insistent pain above her eyes. Then the noise started like a thousand bees buzzing inside her head, metal grinding against metal, and pain like a dagger twisting inside her brain. She grabbed her head and curled into the fetal position, the pain unlike any she had ever known. She barely registered that on the floor Remy was grabbing his head and roaring in pain. Through the haze she dropped her hand over the side of the sofa and managed to grab his, they were locked together in the torturous pain, holding on to each other for dear life.

It seemed an eternity passed in the span of mere moments. As it ended Ashlyn found herself lying on the sofa knees curled to her chest, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. On the floor she heard Remy groan and then saw his mussed head pop up over the side of the sofa.

"You ok?" he gasped reaching out to touch her cheek, she recoiled at his touch, every nerve ending on fire. She stared at him, her eyes large as saucers. He laid his head on the edge of the sofa near her head.

"What the hell was that?" She whispered in a scratchy voice.

He barely shrugged remaining where he was head beside hers. He looked up into her eyes, "Maybe we should go to your room, hunker down and rest for a while."

She nodded then groaned but managed to sit up straight, grabbing her head and trying to steady herself. Remy slowly stood and steadied himself, swaying a bit at first. She looked up at him as he offered her his hand. She grabbed it and stood, but pushed his arm away as he attempted to put it around her. They slowly started towards her bedroom both lost in their own thoughts.

They lay together in the double bed facing each other. She closed her eyes resting her still aching head expecting the pain to start again at any moment. He studied her as she lay with her eyes closed, wondering about her past, something she never talked about. She had shown that she was strong but averse to any affection. He did not know what her life had been like but he sensed that it had been much harder than his years on the streets of New Orleans.


End file.
